That precedent is unhealthy for a country that depends upon the power of the public (and the press) to hold powerful people accountable for their actions, and could impact reporters' willingness to tackle important but sensitive stories in the future. The story was removed from the site because of concerns about pending litigation. Screengrab from /for PhillyVoiceĪ screen grab of a since deleted post about former Phillies pitcher Mitch Williams. Hence, the lawsuit, which was filed in September 2014 and is apparently still pending after a dismissal and this online mea culpa of sorts: In other interviews, though, Williams said those 2014 stories led to him being blackballed by Major League Baseball. While the case against the prior owners was dismissed, the decision may be appealed.” “This story is no longer available as it has been the subject of litigation against the prior owners of this site. The end result? If you click on a pair of stories that Deadspin wrote about former Phillies pitcher Mitch Williams – headlines: “Mitch Williams Ejected from Child’s Baseball Game for Arguing, Cursing” and “Witnesses: Mitch Williams Called Child ‘A P-,’ Ordered Beanball” – here’s what you’ll see: In a memo to Gawker media staffers, though, executive editor John Cook noted, “disappearing true posts about public figures simply because they have been targeted by a lawyer who conspired with a vindictive billionaire to destroy this company is an affront to the very editorial ethos that has made us successful enough to be worth acquiring.” The company said each was the subject of pending litigation, and it wanted a “clean slate” moving forward. On Friday night, executives with Univision – which bought Gawker Media after the debilitating lawsuit loss to Hulk Hogan bankrolled by his ridiculously wealthy Gawker-hating benefactor Peter Thiel – voted to delete six posts from Gawker sites Gizmodo, Jezebel and Deadspin. Gawker sold to Univision in aftermath of Hulk Hogan case.WATCH: Ex-Phillies Lenny Dykstra, Mitch Williams trade expletives, venom.Univision deletes Gawker posts tied to litigation.It goes much deeper, and it involves a certain former Phillies reliever best known for giving up a World Series-ending home run in 1993. But this weekend’s issue isn’t about electoral us-versus-them narratives. Yeah, yeah, I know: As far as the corrosive discourse permeating America as part of this uplifting presidential race is concerned, the media’s the enemy. Say what you will about Gawker Media (and though I’ve written for it in the past, I take issue with some of the things it has done), but if you’re not concerned about precedents set by its new parent company scrubbing the online record clean of six stories this weekend, it's time to start caring more about the future of America’s press freedoms.
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